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BY LAURA ASCIONE, eSchool News
Research shows the number of girls who want to pursue STEM careers continues to decline–here’s what can be done about it. A new survey shows that the number of girls interested in pursuing STEM careers is alarmingly small–and it continues to decline. The survey from Junior Achievement, conducted by the research group Engine, shows that only 9 percent of girls ages 13-17 express an interest in STEM careers, down from 11 percent in a similar 2018 survey.

For now, CC Search is providing quality over quantity. In fact, Creative Commons wants to make its search engine a leading tool for creators. “CC will prioritize and build for users who seek to not only discover free resources in the commons, but who seek to reuse these resources with greater ease and confidence, and for whom in particular the rights status of these works may be important,” the non-profit writes.

With campus temporarily shuttered, many students didn’t have access to the technology and resources they needed to complete coursework. So, while faculty were encouraged to maintain communication with their students, a moratorium was placed on due dates and other required coursework while the institution was closed. Once everyone returned to campus, we were then left with the challenge of cramming three weeks of lost time into the fairly rigid confines of what was left of the semester. The university was able to creatively carve out a few make-up days from holidays and weekends, but this alternate schedule didn’t necessarily jibe with the already-disrupted lives of faculty and students. As a result, many faculty—including myself—opted for moving contingent instruction online.

With AI becoming more deeply integrated into our professional and personal lives, the Indeed analytics team crunched platform data to learn more about AI jobs in 2019. What are the top positions? Which offer the highest salaries? Where are the best opportunities? Some of our findings may surprise you.

The President and CEO of Community Brands, JP Guilbault suggests that big change can bring big rewards if we begin rethinking the way we educate ourselves. “There needs to be a big shift away from the classroom,” says Guilbault. “Yes, there are trade skills you can pick up from a class or online course, but the real learning comes through the doing of it in the workplace. Organizations need to embrace a ‘culture of trying’ because that’s where learning accelerates.” Throughout this piece, Guilbault breaks down the ways in which organizations can create a culture of learning in the workplace and receive the multitude of benefits which will naturally follow.

One of the central issues pertaining to technology and education today is that few—if any—know whether a new edtech product or service will improve learning outcomes. It might also have unintended consequences. While many researchers have investigated the decision-making process behind edtech implementation at the K-12 level, few have done so in higher ed. Assistant Director and Senior Researcher Fiona Hollands and Research Assistant Maya Escueta, both of the Center for Benefit-Cost Studies in Education (CBCSE) at Columbia University have a new article on the subject.

Darrell Etherington, Tech Crunch
Soon, you might not need anything more specialized than a readily accessible touchscreen device and any existing data sets you have access to in order to build powerful prediction tools. A new experiment from MIT and Brown University researchers have added a capability to their ‘Northstar’ interactive data system that can “instantly generate machine-learning models” to use with their exiting data sets in order to generate useful predictions.

Improving yourself and diversifying your skill set has never been easier thanks to online courses, webinars, video tutorials and guides that are readily available on the internet. Whether you’re building your own business or looking to get hired by your dream company, adding these skills to your resume will help you stand out like a unicorn in a sea of donkeys — and best of all, you can learn them online.

Learning is a crucial component to every workplace. Be it initial onboarding and employee training, compliance, or continuous professional development, companies are increasingly looking for better ways to develop the skills and expertise of their workforce. In fact, 81% of executives say talent development is a top priority for their business. By investing in a customisable and streamlined learning program that meets the specific needs of your learners, you’re able to significantly increase employee retention and create a well-equipped, competent, and confident team that can drive business results.

Neuroscience is changing the pedagogy of education, and it’s about time. Schools have long been ready to embrace scientific theory and research. Everything educators incorporate in their instruction today must first consider whether it aligns with the neuroscience of learning. What we bring into the classroom must be research-based, relevant and ready to support teachers.

ZipRecruiter’s data scientists analyzed over 50 million job postings, surveyed hundreds of employers, and thousands of job seekers, and examined specific use cases in five transitioning industries. They found that AI created about three times as many jobs as it took away in 2018. What’s more, while employers are already using AI tools, 81% of those surveyed said they preferred to hire a human over putting in a completely autonomous system.

The “virtual” part of the virtual classroom might be described as being shorthand for “virtually anything.” The power of digital communication, with its cloud computing, webcams, digital whiteboards, and multimedia streaming means that online learning spaces can take on whatever shape is best for the teachers and students in them. The challenge in virtual classroom management is to design the flow of information within that space to maximize learning. Communicating online is fundamentally different from what occurs within a shared real-world environment. While video conferencing can link anyone in the world with internet, the way we see and the way we speak online are contained within digital windows.

A 2017 working paper found that “students with debt are less ‘choosy’ on the job market: They are more inclined to accept part-time work and jobs that are less related to their degree and offer limited career potential.” Earlier research showed that higher education debt “reduces the probability that students choose low-paid ‘public interest’ jobs.” New graduates with loan debt, in other words, appear to have an understandably greater interest in paying off their loans than in making the world a better place.

Plenty of groups these days are trying to reinvent college, and that’s not surprising at a time when higher ed is under fire for ever-rising costs, ballooning student debt and even questions about the value of a degree. On one hand, entrepreneurs and foundations are rushing to offer higher education via new models and price points. Meanwhile, college researchers and innovators are diving into learning science and experimenting with new teaching methods. But those groups don’t always talk to each other, or even know what the others are working on.

The University of North Texas soon will offer non-credit, online courses in a variety of subjects through Coursera, giving more learners access to world-class educational content created and taught by UNT faculty. “We plan to launch three to five MOOCs within the next year,” said Adam Fein, UNT vice president of digital strategy and innovation. “In support of our mission to provide access to education, our plan is to continue to explore options to give North Texas students and learners from around the globe flexible learning options and more ways to help them reach academic and career goals.”

Two-thirds of employees report regrets about their degrees, as Americans question the high cost of higher education. Student loan debt has ballooned to nearly $1.6 trillion nationwide in 2019, topping the list of regrets for employees. Science, technology, engineering or math majors, who are more likely to enjoy higher salaries, were least likely to report regrets, while those in the humanities were most likely.

Two-thirds of employees report regrets about their advanced degrees, as Americans question the high cost of higher education. Student loan debt has ballooned to nearly $1.6 trillion nationwide in 2019, topping the list of regrets for employees. Science, technology, engineering or math majors, who are more likely to enjoy higher salaries, were least likely to report regrets, while those in the humanities were most likely.

BY ELLEN ULLMAN, eCampus News
Turning to prescriptive AI helps universities personalize their outreach and deliver the right information at the right time. More and more universities are adopting predictive analytics and forecast modeling to improve their recruiting and retention efforts. But what’s the best way to use those analytics and how can you tell if your implementation is off to a good start?

Ohio’s Eastern Gateway Community College draws scrutiny from lawmakers for working with an OPM to rapidly grow online enrollment of out-of-state students. Ohio’s Eastern Gateway Community College has grown its online programs rapidly in the last few years, with most of its roughly 20,000 students now enrolling online, and from out of the state of Ohio. The bulk of its enrollment growth — more than quadrupling in the three years before the spring of 2018 — has been driven by an online “free college” program Eastern Gateway created for members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a large trade union of public employees.

In this competitive talent landscape—and aided by new technology tools—something different is indeed happening. Employers are beginning to get much more strategic, analytical and nuanced about how they hire and how they set job qualifications and assess skills and abilities. Although it is still early in this movement, the trend bears particular monitoring by college leaders and policymakers. And it also presents new opportunities for edtech firms, alternative-education providers and employers themselves.